blake perkins

MILWAUKEE — Christian Yelich went two for four and reached 100 RBIs for the season as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Angels 5-2 on Thursday night.

Yelich doubled home Brice Turang as part of the Brewers’ three-run outburst in the seventh inning that broke a 2-2 tie. This marks Yelich’s first 100-RBI season since 2018, when he had 110 and was named the NL MVP.

The Brewers completed a three-game sweep and reduced their magic number for clinching the NL Central to four. The Angels have lost seven straight.

Milwaukee’s Quinn Priester struck out eight of the first nine batters he faced and didn’t allow a baserunner until the fifth inning, when Jo Adell drew a leadoff walk and Luis Rengifo homered. Those were the only runs allowed by Priester, who struck out 10 and gave up three hits and two walks in 5⅔ innings.

Priester has won a Brewers-record 12 straight decisions. He left this game with Milwaukee trailing 2-1, but the Brewers rallied after his departure.

Milwaukee tied it in the sixth when Caleb Durbin greeted José Fermín with a two-out single that scored Yelich.

Jackson Chourio led off the seventh with a ground-rule double off Luis García (2-2) and scored the go-ahead run on Turang’s single. After Yelich doubled home Turang, William Contreras came home on Andrew Vaughn’s sacrifice fly.

Aaron Ashby (4-2) struck out three in 1⅓ scoreless innings to get the win. Jared Koenig worked the ninth for his second save in four opportunities.

Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi allowed two runs over 5⅔ innings.

Key moments: With runners on third and second, Milwaukee’s Blake Perkins made a diving catch of Chris Taylor’s drive to the center-field warning track in the seventh to keep the score tied 2-2. The Angels had runners on the corners with one out in the eighth, but Abner Uribe struck out Rengifo and Yoán Moncada to end the threat.

Key stat: The Brewers have won the last 19 games that Priester pitched, a stretch that includes 16 starts and three games in which he followed an opener.

Up next: The Angels head to Colorado. Friday’s scheduled starters are Mitch Farris (1-1, 4.80 ERA) for the Angels and Bradley Blalock (1-5, 9.00) for the Rockies.

MILWAUKEE — Brandon Woodruff pitched five solid innings, Sal Frelick hit a three-run homer and Blake Perkins tied a career high with five RBIs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 9-2 win over the Angels on Wednesday night.

Woodruff (7-2) gave up two hits and one run, struck out nine and threw 52 of his 69 pitches for strikes. He was pitching on 10 days rest to manage his workload after he missed last season while recovering from right shoulder surgery.

Angels starter José Soriano (10-11) exited with one out in the second after being struck by a line drive off the bat of Jake Bauers. Soriano sustained a right forearm contusion. X-rays were negative.

Connor Brogdon came on in relief and gave up an opposite-field single to Blake Perkins that drove in a pair. Frelick’s three-run homer later in the inning gave the Brewers a 5-0 lead.

Taylor Ward provided the Angels offense with homers in the fourth and sixth.

The Angels (69-83) have lost six straight, while the major league-best Brewers (93-59) have won four of five.

Key moment

After Soriano departed, the switch-hitting Perkins, batting left-handed, came up next and hit a grounder between shortstop and third on a 2-2 pitch from Brogdon to get the Brewers on the board.

Key stat

Mike Trout remains stuck on 399 career home runs after going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. Trout has homered just twice since Aug. 6, the last coming on Sept. 11.

Up next

LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-11, 4.08 ERA) starts for the Angels against Brewers RHP Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25) in the series finale Wednesday.